Surgical site infections (SSIs), which are defined as infections that develop in the body during a surgical procedure or up to 30 days thereafter, are a significant source of nosocomial infections and lead to a significant number of prolonged illnesses and deaths each year. It is estimated that SSIs account for about 25-38% of nosocomial infections among surgical patients, which equates to about 2 million infections in the United States annually. Due, at least in part, that many kinds of pathogens such as MRSA, Gram positive/negative rods, and Gram-positive cocci are easily found in hospital air samples, the risk of SSIs is expected to increase. As a result, post-operative stays and associated costs are expected to increase.
Numerous protocols list preventive measures to reduce the risk of SSIs, such as surgical team hand/forearm antisepsis, antimicrobial prophylaxis, operation room management, asepsis of surgical tools, and postoperative incision care. In addition, some skin preparation products containing iodophor, alcohol, or chlorhexidine gluconate have been developed to assist with the disinfection process. Although most of these products act as a broad spectrum of topical antiseptics, skin bacteria continues to survive after treatment.
Plastic surgical incision drapes, which are antiseptic-impregnated drapes, are used as an additional preventive measure against the spread of SSIs. The surgical drapes are most widely used to immobilize and sequester the skin flora and thus mitigate endogenous contamination of the surgical site from microbes residing on or within the patient's own skin. Surgical drapes have been used as common practice during surgeries for approximately 50 years. However, most of the currently available surgical incision drapes have numerous disadvantages. For example, surgical drapes generally provide only temporary protection against bacterial infections and some patients show an allergic reaction to active component (e.g., iodine) of some drapes. Further, in terms of clinical application, medical professionals often complain that the placement process of the drapes is time consuming and that the drapes often do not remain well-attached to the skin surface, leading to an increase in infection risk. In addition, when drapes 102 are removed, for example near and incision 108, a layer of epidermal cells 104 can be detached, exposing flora 106 found beneath the top surface of skin, thereby increasing risk of secondary bacterial infection, as illustrated in FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 illustrates bacterial growth after inoculation with used surgical incision drapes. For the test, pieces of surgical incision drapes were taken right after a surgery, and inoculated on 5 spots of LB agar plate, and cultured for 48 hr. Surprisingly, a formation of bacterial colony was observed on 2 spots, indicating the bacterial recolonization.
Furthermore, current surgical incision drapes are designed for single use, resulting in undesired expense and waste. And, a size of a surgical drape can depend on the size of the patient and/or surgical incision, requiring size selection of the surgical drape which adds to prep time and inventory requirements.
Accordingly, improved systems, compositions, and methods for mitigating the onset and/or spread of infections, such as SSIs, and which reduce cost, waste, and/or inventory requirements are desired.